Soundproofing a Fence with Mass Loaded Vinyl
You are probably wondering what’s the best way of soundproofing your fence.
You are annoyed by the street noise, and want to reduce it to a minimum.
Well, it will not be easy, but there are some ways to insulate the noise and enjoy the peace that you deserve.
A few years ago, I had exactly the same problem.
Since my house is near some really busy street, you could hear all the noises through the fence.
My husband and I tried with regular soundproofing fence, and it really reduced the noise, but since my house was not in a good position, I was still able to often hear the noise that was more than just triggering.
We needed some better solution, and we were ready to pay for it no matter the cost.
There is nothing pricier than your peace and silence in the morning.
As the traffic in my street was really high, I could hear the horns of those cars like they were in my bed.
It lasted for a very long time so we realized that we need to change something.
Therefore, we decided to get some extra layer of protection.
The solution was not that much expensive, and it was very easy to install it.
Of course, that solution was one of the best noise warrior - mass loaded vinyl.
What is Mass Loaded Vinyl and How Does it Work?
Mass loaded vinyl is a panel-like material used to decrease the airborne noise through ceiling, walls, and floor.
They are mostly made of vinyl under really high temperatures and a limp-mass material that acts as a sound barrier.
Mass loaded vinyl is really heavy. It weighs over 1lb sq/ft.
With its thickness of 1/8’’, it is ideal to soundproof or thermal insulate the room.
However, you can use it in whatever cause that you want regarding the noise.
Therefore, you can use it to soundproof the fence as well.
It will not only absorb the noise, but also reflect it to opposite direction.
Of course, in order to achieve the maximum performance, you will need to cover as much area as possible.
Covering only a small part of your fence, I’m afraid, won’t do so much.
Mass loaded vinyl is one handy thing. You can buy it here at an affordable price.
It is odorless, and made of the so-called virgin material (not recycled).
It reduces (sometimes to a minimum) the noise on the triple level:
When you sum all of these 3, you get a result of 10db.
If we translate it to a percentage, that would be an amazing 50% noise reduction.
With the great quality of mass loaded vinyl and good conditions (angle of the noise source, house position etc.) you can make it up to 75%.
As you may know, most of the noises that you hear are coming directly through your fence.
What mass loaded vinyl will do for you is reflect that sound, and make it bounce all the way back from where it came.
No matter if your fence has wooden, concrete or stone construction mass loaded vinyl will act as a second layer of protection.
If the case is wooden construction fence, then you might seal the holes and prevent your neighbors from peeking while swimming in your pool (if you own one).
Jokes aside, when we already mentioned the pool, mass loaded vinyl is a great way of preventing the outgoing noise (coming from your household) to disturb your neighbors.
We all know how whiny they can be sometimes.
Mass loaded vinyl will easily reduce the outgoing noise of your pool’s heater, or your water pump.
That way, you will double-benefit: from preventing the noise that comes into your household, and from preventing the whiny neighbors coming to your household as well.
Several ways of installing the mass loaded vinyl
First of all, you can use some adhesive to fix and strengthen the mass loaded vinyl to your fence.
If you already want to prevent the noise, then why wouldn’t you go with soundproofing glue?
Green glue, or as some may call it, the soundproofing glue, is extremely sticky glue and you should take all the safety precautions as it may reach your bare hands and make some unnecessary problems.
This glue will not only hold the mass loaded vinyl attached, but also prevent the noise itself.
Furthermore, you can just go with screwing the mass loaded vinyl to the fence with nails.
Keep in mind that the mass loaded vinyl is extremely heavy and that you will need to stitch it widely across the fence in order to prevent mass loaded vinyl from falling off of your fence.
If you don’t want to risk with this one, you can call the professional to do it for you. It will take no longer than several hours, and it may fix your noise problem for a long time.
However, there are several conditions for this solution to succeed.
There are some things that neither mass loaded vinyl can stop.
Namely, you should use this method if your house is in kind-of-valley position in relation to your fence.
Otherwise, if the house is on some uphill and there is no barrier (fence) between the house and the very source of the noise, I’m afraid that mass loaded vinyl can’t do much.
If your house is a bit into the valley, and the fence is high enough, you can easily solve the noise problem that passes through that fence by putting mass loaded vinyl.
As we said earlier, it will reflect the sound and make the quiet zone of your home.
Of course, if your house is in line with the rest of the street from where the noise is coming from, then you should definitely go with mass loaded vinyl.
It will help you, as it helped me.
Literary, if I can subjectively express the percentage of the reduced noise, that would be around 60% (even though my house is in a weird ungrateful position).
It might sound not satisfying, but 60% has brought the noise to some ignoring level that I can barely notice now.
All in all, I’m sure that you can deal with this problem if you combine mass loaded vinyl on your fence with some of the methods of soundproofing your house (acoustic panels, soundproof curtains, soundproof blankets etc.)
On Soundproofing a Fence with Mass Loaded Vinyl
If you are having these problems, do not hesitate.
Order one mass loaded vinyl from Second Skin Audio, and give it a try.
If your garden is a small one, then one mass loaded vinyl will do the job as it is big enough for 20 sq./ft.
The price isn’t that big either for the value that mass loaded vinyl offers. Don’t wait for the noise to stop when you can prevent it.